Schools devise ways to go around order on extra fees

Headteachers across the country have devised ways of circumventing government guidelines on school fees to introduce extra charges under informal vote heads.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha’s repeated warnings to headteachers against increasing the fees have fallen on deaf ears as school boards of management team up with some parents and teachers to introduce new fees.

In the North Rift, parents have complained about extra charges by secondary schools as the schools reopened this week.

A spot check by the Nation revealed some of the extra charges. At a national school in Nandi County, for instance, parents have been asked to pay Sh3,000 a year for bread.

But Uasin Gishu Director of Education Gitonga Mbaka said he is yet to receive complaints from parents on the school’s extra fees.

In West Pokot, leaders and parents have raised concern over the directives by some schools that students buy school uniforms and other required items at the institutions, which have inflated the costs. They accused the principals of engaging in business, depriving local traders of business.

Among the schools mentioned were Nasokol Girls, Tartar Girls, Chewoyet Boys and Kapenguria Boys' High School where parents said they were asked to buy uniforms sold by the school.

Speaking at Makutano trading centre, Governor John Lonyangapuo warned the principals engaging in the practice that action will be taken against them.

‘False’ allegations

However, the principals dismissed the allegations as unfounded. Kapenguria Boys' Principal Moses Ndeda said they tendered for a supplier, who will sell the uniform within the school.

And Chewoyet Deputy Principal Edward Njatia said: “Our admission letters have nothing like that. Maybe the ones with such information are fake.”

West Pokot Director of Education Jared Onyiego said he was not aware of any school engaging in such a malpractice.

In Taita-Taveta County, parents said they were forced to pay Sh27,000 above the stipulated amount. A parent with a child at Mwasere Girls in Mwatate said they were told the money would cater for remedial classes, the repair of a borehole and teachers employed by the school’s board of management.

In Malindi, a parent whose daughter is going to Standard Five at Central Primary School said they were charged an extra Sh100 per month for electricity.

Mr Sultan Said, who lives in Magarini, said he opted to take his children to a local private school to avoid frustration after teachers in public schools came up with “funny” ways of minting money from parents.

At Mikindani Primary School in Mombasa, headteacher Cosmas Mutie assured parents that he will not charge any extra fees.

“We have books, the only thing you should do is take your responsibility as parents to ensure our pupils excel,” he said during the admission of new pupils as schools reopened yesterday.

In Kwale County, a parent told the Nation that some schools have been asking parents to pay motivation fees for teachers and for awarding best-performing students.

“To avoid documentation that might attract sanctions, some schools don’t include the disputed items in the formal fee structure and tell parents of the new charges verbally, but payment is mandatory,” he said.

In Siaya, County Director of Education Joseph Wamocho cautioned principals and headteachers against introducing illegal levies, even as parents raised the alarm over extra charges.

Parents complained that some primary school headteachers were selling invitation letters to 2019 KCPE candidates.

Mr Wamocho confirmed that he had received such complaints and ordered investigations.
In Kisumu County, a parent whose child was joining Ondiek Primary School said she was asked to pay Sh4,000 for buying her child a locker.

And a parent at MM Shah Primary School said the school was charging an extra Sh10,000.
Meanwhile, schools in Kakola, Ombaka sub-location, in Nyando sub-county, saw a low turnout when schools reopened for the first term Monday.

At Nyamasao Primary School, only 90 students out of 434 turned up. Headteacher Kennedy Nunda said it was because most students had moved in with relatives in areas safe from flooding.

Ombaka Secondary School, which hosted flood victims during the holidays, remained closed. The watchman on duty said it would reopen tomorrow.

In Busia County, learning was impossible at the flooded Musoma AC Primary School in Bunyala sub-county. The more than 700 learners were forced to go back home.

In Homa Bay County, pupils at Osodo Primary School in Rachuonyo North sub-county found their latrines filled with water, posing a health risk.

Learning was also paralysed at Suna Primary School in Rachuonyo East sub-county yesterday after parents held protests over the school’s poor academic performance and demanded the headteacher’s transfer.

In Kisii, parents with children in private schools faced difficulties getting books for the new curriculum after most bookshops ran out of stock.

In Nyeri County, some parents complained that some principals and headteachers had threatened to expel their children if they refused to pay the extra fees.

“We were told to pay an extra Sh3,000 per term for academic programmes. When we enquired what it was all about, we were told that it is for before- and after-school tuition,” a parent with a child at Nyeri High School told the Nation.

Separate account

Another parent noted that the money was to be deposited in a separate account named Parents Association Fund at a local bank.

They said this strategy was adopted after an earlier one that required an appointed parent from each class to collect money from other parents on behalf of the school failed.

But when reached for comment, Principal James Maina denied asking parents to pay for academic programmes.

Meanwhile, public service vehicle and boda-boda operators took advantage of the increased demand for transport on Monday to raise their fares.

For instance, those travelling from Kisii to Ogembo had to pay Sh120, up from the usual Sh70, while those travelling from Kisii had to pay Sh500 instead of the usual Sh400.
The situation was the same in the South Rift region, where fares rose by more than 80 per cent.

Travellers using the Narok, Bomet, Kericho, Bomet, Kiptagich and Nakuru highways were shocked to be told they had to pay higher fares.

“The cost of a trip from Mulot to Kericho rose to Sh800, up from Sh600,” said Mr Edwin Koech, a traveller in Longisa, Bomet County.

And those travelling from Narok to Kericho paid Sh1,000, up from the usual Sh800, as passengers jammed various bus terminals.

By Dickens Wasonga, Gaitano Pessa, George Odiwuor, Justus Ochieng’, Ian Byron, Benson Ayienda, Vitalis Kimutai, Angeline Ochieng’, Betty Nasirumbi, Oscar Kakai, Stanley Kimuge, Wycliff Kipsang, Fadhili Lwanga, Winnie Atieno, Charles Lwanga Lucy Mkanyika, Reginah Kinogu and Gitonga Marete.